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Key Largo, Prudhoe and Westfest

  • Thread starter RIDERR1150GSADV
  • Start date
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RIDERR1150GSADV

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Or how I rode 14.5 K miles in 5-6 weeks.

The trip I took this summer brought me from Key Largo, Fl to Prudhoe Bay, AK via Paonia Colorado to Sipapu, NM (for West Fest) and back to Ft. Lauderdale where my folks live.
It all started on June 25th when I took off from Ft. Lauderdale after spending the night with my folks. It is always nice to have a small jumpstart specially when the weather is hot and humid. The first travel day, for me at least, is always one in which to find my way around the ride. That is, getting into the comfort zone. The destination for me this trip, was Prudhoe Bay as it seems to be one of those 'must' do things when riding a bike. However I was determined to get there only if the conditions warranted a safe trip as I leave the gung-ho stuff for others.

I slabbed the Turnpike after leaving home at 8:30 AM as to avoid the 'great' cagers S.FL is so famous for. After all Miami has the dubious honor of being voted the worst city in the USA 2 years in a row......
A pic of my steed and me prior to riding of into adventure.

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Before the questions about the knobbies tied on the back begin, I have not regretted bringing them with me as an unexpected tire failure in AK or Yukon will wreck your trip. More on that later...as two other riders found out the costly way...

What can be said about slabbing some of the most boring road in Fl other than getting rest here and there and to let your personal Final Drive cool off as well as your bike's?? :D

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Well so much for cooling off as you get north, as in Tifton, GA the mercury rose to 102F before welcome rain cooled off the air to a more bearable 80 F.
Camping was going to be out untill the temps got better and so in Opelika, AL I sought a motel room with AC. The owner was nice enough that I was allowed to park on the grass in front of my room. :clap

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I don't know why, but it seems my gear finds it's way all over my motel room as I offload my bike. :rofl

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After checking in day one was done after 600 miles in the saddle...

More to come.......maybe..:D
 
can't wait for the rest of the tale. interesting how it's been hotter this summer in the surrounding states than down here. somewhat less humidity tho.

let 'er rip...looking forward to a happy ending.:clap
 
All Right than, if I must.....:D

Day two and three of this saga :snore were both ridden on more rural roads than just interstate alone. Opelika to West Plains MO on US 63 bring more curves and kept me from dozing off completely. The second day was also about 600 miles and the only pic I have here is of US 280. I am slabbing so I didn't take many photo's.

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The bike at this point was running great although I heard the fuelpump more than normal. It was remedied by keeping the fueltank topped up more as, IMHO, it all had to do with the over the 100 F temps I was riding in.
Luckely I decided to ride with a little cooling necktie to keep my brain from frying. Day 3 brought me from West Plains MO to Grand Island NE or about 610 miles further north.

I decided to play around on some rural roads and the GPS got me lost :brow
Unfortunately there was no place to stop on these small roads as there was no shoulder to pull over on but these roads were worth the experience. US 63to US60 to US14 to route Z in Dogwood were really cool.
In Dogwood a big dog eyed me and wanted to give chase. I saw the mutt laying in wait and decided to get ready for him. The Stebel Airhorn ( it failed later in AK with all the dust) blew the dog off track as well as a quick flick of the throttle screwed his timing all up too.
I had a buddy who dumped his bike because of a dog and since I just started my trip I didn't want some mutt to possibly end it there in the middle of (nowhere) MO.
This pic is from Grand Island NE as seen from my room

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The goal for day four was Cody WY......
 
Day four of the trip started in Grand Island NE and I froze my a$$ off. :violin It was 54 F and after the previous heatwave days it was a shock to the system. Living in a warm climate (20 years in the FL Keys) makes a person less tolerant to lower temps. It turned out that later I would be riding in 34F weather..... Anyway,
not only was it 'freezing', but the one hour time change threw me off too.
I ended up Leaving at 4:30 AM local time as my own clock said 5:30..:huh
This was going to be a 'theme' for most of the trip, often bewildering bystanders as I asked for the local time. :rofl
Some must have thought that I came from a different planet, this might as well be so, since I am Dutch :lol :lol .
Going on a long trip like this also made me forget what day it was, if it hadn't been for my daily log that I am now using to write this report with.

Anyway, I did ride I-80 untill I hit US 26 in NE into WY than till I-25 N till Casper WY from there to Shoshone, Thermopolis and finally Cody. It was hot in Thermopolis at 104 F but it was 'dry' heat and was therefore much better than the Tifton GA experience with the humidity there. A GPS shot of the road.

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Getting closer to WY.....

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Towards Thermopolis and Cody

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I arrived at 4:30 PM at the Ponderosa Campground in Cody, WY after a 718 mile day riding to what was, for me, familiar ground as I had been there in 04 for the 'Unrally' from the sporttouring.com guys on my way to the MOA rally in Spokane WA.


To be continued......
 
Day 5.
All right, I made it to Cody! :clap A few days of R&R as the Buffalo Bill Museum is a MUST see. You miss out on some real history and artifacts if you don't go there. As there are 5 parts to this museum it would take 2 full days to take it all in. This first day however I slept in late had BBQ lunch and bought a book, looked after the bike and met a gentleman from Alaska who was bicycling to Florida from Anchorage. We had to laugh as most people just don't understand the drive we had to undertake trips like ours.

Later that day I met Jerry and Jonathan from Colorado Springs, who were father and son riding their motorcycles around too.
They decided to pitch their tent in what we all thought was a great spot.
I moved my tent as well into that area on the second day in Cody. You know that spot that seems soooo cool that you have to be there??? Shade, calm little creek behind the tent etc,??? Well stay tuned....:lol
At first this deer came around as I pitched my tent at 4:30 PM the previous day....

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And after a little doing I was up and running with the gourmet meal for the evening

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Than the move to the "idyllic" spot....:D :D

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Well after a fitfull ichty night by both Jonathan, Jerry and myself, we found out our tents were invaded by tree-mites and we had to move away from what could have been a 'kewl' spot. Oh well, there is something about a fence and green grass......:rofl :rofl
The sun took care of the unwanted invaders btw.
Back with the regular crowd..
The Rider with the Honda trike had an issue with his fueltank and after describing the symptoms I asked if he still had the charcoal cannister. He did and decided to have it removed asap at the nearest Honda dealer/mechanic.
See guys, BMW's aren't the only bikes with canister issues...:nono

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And a overview of the tent area at the Ponderosa campground

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I really like this set up as the steep road keeps traffic to a minimum and it makes for a real quiet area. The deer running around there are kinda tame too and show up from time to time. Better at the campground than on the road...
 
This is a great trip report so far. . . . Keep it comin'!
 
So after the previous day's tent 'dance' I did go to the museum and will have lots of pics. The tent saga however wasn't quite over yet though :bluduh

The entrance to the Museum

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Annie Oakley's dress.

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Buffalo Bills rifle on the bottom as it was found after his passing. The stock was missing before his passing and he had no idea where it was.

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Bill Cody's coat

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This Gatling gun was used by GE to prototype the Phalanx guns on among other the Black-hawk chopper a variety of naval vessels etc. The gun stands at over 6 feet tall on its mount

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Gary Coopers Gun in "High Noon"

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A pair of dueling pistols

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A display of the Native American Plains Indians

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A stagecoach.

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A chuck wagon used until 1910!

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There is so much to see there that it is almost overwhelming but totally worth the time. I have many more photos but this would take up too much bandwidth...

As promised the tent issue had not quite gone away yet, for when I returned
from my museum trip the whole tent had fallen apart at most of the seams. :bluduh
This was obviously a problem as my trip had just started. Prior to my trip I had sent the tent in to get repaired, but Mountain Hardwear decided to not check out the tent.:banghead
Well long story short I bought a new tent at Sierra Trading Post in town and used the NEMO with inflatable poles for the rest of my trip.
A pic of the old and new tent. The new one is light green.

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The old tent ended up where it belongs and I used it's floor and ground cloth for the new one. Now I had a tent that packed smaller and was lighter too.:clap
All in all, quite a day.

To be continued......
 
Key Largo ,Prudhoe and Westfest

July 1st took me out of Cody to Missoula MT, for a 491 mile ride, where the bike was going to get new oil prior to crossing into BC Canada. But before getting there I had to ride a 'little' bit. It was one of those crystal clear, blue sky heavenly days you can only dream about and the road to Missoula led over the Chief Joseph Hwy and Beartooth Pass.
I did not fancy riding through Yellowstone and get stuck behind bluehairs and their breadboxes (RV's):sick to save a few miles. Besides I had not seen Beartooth after the repairs made necessary by the massive rockslides a few years back.

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The KOA campground in Missoula. I adjusted the valves here and the oil changed at the BMW dealer. This was pricey but now I had a bill for maintenance as the bike was still under BMW warranty.

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A Brit living in Vancouver riding his bike through the US

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This day brought me one of those 'Zen' moments for which I counted my lucky stars. I stopped often to just take in the scenery and reflect on how lucky I was just being there. Carpe Diem rings very true.

There may be more coming........:rofl
 
July 2nd

Awoke at 5:45 AM and adjusted the valves on my bike before my trip to the dealer. After breakfast I rode to BMW in Missoula only 3 miles from the KOA and while the oil was changed I roamed around the showroom for some bike porn :heart Saw the new Kawasaki Concour14 there. :bikes
Fortunately I didn't need anything at that time.:D

Todays ride took me past the Grand Coulee Dam. Quite an impressive Dam.

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The bordercrossing into Canada was easy as pie, as the Canadian customs officer only once asked if I had any weapons on me. I replied with a "no" , as I didn't have anything anyway. Then he asked why not, and my reply was that I don't need any weapons.:evil
We chatted for a bit and I ended up giving him a business card. Who knows, he may come down to fish with me. :rofl
The trip ended that day with 467 miles on the odo, at small motel in Princeton BC. There I found a decent Greek meal and turned in for the night.

Final photo for the day.

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To be continued.....
 
July 3rd
489 miles for the day. I left Princeton BC at 7 AM riding through beautifull vineyard country which was a complete surprise to me as one generally doesn't equate Canada with wine. :buds
It did rain a lot :cry ,so the pics on the vineyards had to take a backseat.
A few rest stops yielded these piccies though. Not a lot to report as I was trying to get to Hyder AK.

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The last rest place for the day was the Provincial campgroud in Fort Fraser BC.

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These Provincial campgrounds are quite nice but have no showers, same as it the US with the National Parks. Therefore I usually take a pack of babywipes with me and they work quite well. :D

To be continued....
 
July 4th! Happy B'day USA!

This day was short on miles, but long on massive rain. One moment I stopped as the visibilty was down to zero. Tropical rain in BC?
Anyway the the sceney was still nice when the rain quit as blue skies were trying to peak out.
Another Hotel room was waiting for me as tent camping in Stewart BC/ Hyder AK is not allowed by the campground owners due to bear activity. :nono
Seeing a black bear crossing the road in front of me made me think that this would be better for my health. :nod

A fellow traveller I met on the viewpoint of Bear Glacier was not going to hotel it here, but ride on. We later met up again in the Yukon and he told me that it had been a bad decision and had the worst ride of his life, as the weather turned worse.... Past Hyder there isn't a whole lot of shelter to be had, and riding in the semi-dark with Bears and Moose (is plural Meese??) running around isnt my cup of tea. It was IMHO time to just get of the road and have more daylight in the AM and hope for better weather. One 'little' issue I noticed were the mosquitos. They are big and got more plentyfull further north.... Three of them can make a bug burger...:rofl

I had to pack the tent wet and I was drying it out in my room. The following outdoor photos are from the way out actually, except this first one on the crossroads.

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The view from my room towards Hyder after checking in...

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Hyder in better weather.

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Another 'exploded' room :rofl. I improvised drying stations as there wasn't a hook to hang a coat on anywhere in the room!!:bluduh

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Drying station 1 :laugh

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Drying station 2 :laugh

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Bear Glacier

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Bear Glacier two years ago. Notice the lack of exposed rock in the middle...

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The road in/out of Stewart, BC/ Hyder, AK

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Next stop; Yukon

To be cont'd
 
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Key Largo, Prudhoe Bay and Westfest

July 5th turned out to be the most interesting ride of the whole trip thus far.
From Stewart BC to Faro Yukon was 691 miles out of which 320 were off-pavement. This day was also the longest in the saddle with 18 hrs of travel time but included some nice breaks and good food.

I left Stewart at about 7 AM after trotting up and down a flight of stairs about 8 times.... Those GS 2 boots don't make for quiet house slippers..:evil
Add the squeaky stairs, and I'm sure the whole place heard me leave. :rofl
The previous night some other guests decided to keep noise going to 11 PM so payback can be tough... :D

The rain had subsided and that was a relief. The BC 37 was under construction at places and the interesting thing is that the workers make the bikes pull forward so we riders don't eat as much dust. The Pilot cars are a riot as some drivers go too slow. I once passed one as it was going way too slow. The driver got pissed but after explaining the finer points of off road bike riding he sped up enough to make it much better.:thumb
Too slow and down goes the bike.....Not an option with a loaded GS. I never dropped the bike this whole trip btw.
Photo break...

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Till I hit Watson Lake I had no idea where I was going to stop for the night.
Funny that perpetual daylight messes with the internal bioclock and I wasn't tired at all. I had to stop at a familiar food stop in Watson Lake....Sally's Cafe :bar


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After a good homecooked meal and signing the ADV logbook I took off on the Campbell "highway" or BC 4.
Notice the quotation marks. Goatpath is more accurate but WOW what a scenery!!! :heart Road photo first

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Frances River

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Frances River Bridge.

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Another scene photo. The reason for the distortion is that the bugs really got bad. I was kinda on the run..... :huh

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What a stunning place to see. If the skeeters had not been bad I could have pitched my tent here.

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After all this, it was inevitable that something had to go 'wrong'. As it was quite late when I pulled into Ross River, I found out that the gas stations had NO gas.... There are only two stations there and BOTH were out. This was interesting, not just for me but the locals as well.
Ok, so I have MSR fuel bottles good for another 40 miles right?? Yup, pulled the bottles out, filled the bike a bit and took off for Faro, the next town over.
This town has only ONE station and it doesn't have pumps with creditcard capability... Now it was 11:30 PM, and it would open at 9 AM! Bankers hours as they closed at 5 PM! It was time for me to catch some Zzz's :snore anyway so it wasn't bad to get stopped in my tracks at this point.
I pitched the tent in a nearby provincial campground and fell unconcious..
I think I had a big grin in my face when I crawled in my sleeping bag as this day was the exact thing I wanted to experience on this trip.
It paid off to be prepared with food, gas and water for those kinds of 'adventures'. :D

To be continued........maybe :D
 
Key Largo, Prudhoe Bay and Westfest

On the morning of July 6th I came out of a deep coma, or was it sleep???
It was a chilly start of the day as I broke camp which took very little time as I only had a tent, sleep pad and bag to deal with. My German neighbor had made coffee and we shared that and a few power-bars. We were also swatting at the ever present mosquito's so I have no pics of this event. :cry
After an aufwiedersehen (goodbye), I took of for Faro, where I had an appointment with a gas station. I was there before opening time but a local resident who was putting air in his van-tires, called the owner who opened early for us. He didn't want to be in a photo so I have the important part of his gas station instead. :D

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After gassing up and riding to Carmacks, I realized that the 120 miles from Faro would not have been done on the gas I had left from the previous day.
The bike was running fine and sipped fuel, but riding 40 MPH on gravel and stopping for pics uses more gas than continuous highway riding.
On my way to Carmacks the overdue fuel truck for Ross River headed my way too.
The ride was beautiful. The scenery was interspersed with lakes like 'Little Salmon' and eventually the Yukon river, cutting through the landscape like a silver ribbon. Pictures don't do the scenery any justice and will never relay the emotions you feel riding around here or anywhere it is so beautiful.

Little Salmon Lake. Funny name as it is 20 miles long....

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Little Salmon Lake.

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Yukon River.

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Yukon River.

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A sign describing a boating disaster on the Yukon River.

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I stopped in Dawson for a butt break and food. My original plan was to ride to the border to Chicken, AK. The weather changed that plan, as a ferocious thunderstorm made me pitch the tent in the provincial campground across the river. I had just set up the tent as heavy rain set in. The 'Top of the World' Hwy had to wait till tomorrow. Which turned out to be a blessing......

Dawson City and the Ferry.

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Camp at Dawson.

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Drying out firewood at the provincial campground at Dawson. This was funny as I brought an ax rather than a tent hammer and I split the, free but wet, firewood in small pieces and had a good fire going in no time. Most folks around me had smokey fires and were looking at my fire, and when they realized what I was doing they did the same.:D

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To be continued...
 
Key Largo, Prudhoe Bay and Westfest

July 7.

After a really good night's sleep, I packed up camp to head for Fairbanks. This was a 400 mile day, and the 'Top of the World' Hwy was a great start.
I did gas up prior to crossing the river the previous day.

The following pics are from the road to Chicken..

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I didn't think however that the American side of the border would actually have the roughest part of this road, but after sliding around a bit I ended up in Chicken for their famous Cinnamon roll. The crossing itself was easy as I had passed all the RVs on the way up to the top of the road where the customs officers decided to unpack every RV that day.... They let me in after a few questions without any issues.
When asked if I had anything to declare, my answer of 'overpriced gas' made the officer laugh and I got waved through. :D

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The infamous 12 gazillion calorie cinnamon bun :eat. And yes, I ate the whole thing in one go with plenty of black coffee, which would later pose a small bathroom issue in Fairbanks.....:whistle (no details will be provided to keep it a clean report) :rofl :rofl

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Fireweed.

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More Fireweed.

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Motel room in Fairbanks at the Ranch Motel. Clean place not too pricey...

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All in all a very nice day with just a little rain but great temps to ride in.

More to come.....
 
Key Largo, Pruhoe Bay and Westfest

Sunday July 8th.

So far I had been riding on street tires and the Batllewing 501/502 tires held up great. I was worried a little about tire life, but at this point I ended up riding Haul road on them as well. I had stopped at George's place to find out where his shop was in Fairbanks and after a brief talk with him and seeing his workplace, I decided not to spend another day in Fairbanks, but to just ride to Coldfoot and start the run to Prudhoe. Finally eh readers?? :D

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The Pipeline.

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The nasty mud. It sticks like glue on everything. I bought a rainsuit that I was prepared to throw away if it became beyond cleaning later on.

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The Bike and pipeline.

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General overview of road, fireweed and pipeline.

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Where I came from. That shine on the road is from the slick goo (bentonite)
that keeps the dust down....

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Proof that I am not the only nut on the road :lol . Bicycle riders from Germany.

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Yours truly...

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The Yukon river bridge. It has wood planking with big gaps in it. Pay attention when riding across this one. I had no traffic and used the whole bridge to avoid the biggest holes in the decking. :huh

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Another Bridge shot, this one from the north side.

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Mother nature's ADVrider greeting :evil

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The real explanation about Finger mountain...

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Endless Tundra views 360 degrees around you.

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Another Milestone reached.

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After I crossed the Arctic circle rain was to accompany me into Coldfoot where lightning had started a brushfire. Smoke jumpers were deployed to put it out and this was the first time I saw these guys/gals in action.

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I met up with a few riders in Coldfoot, which is nothing more than a gasstation and restaurant/hotel, and is intended as a stopover place for travellers for the final run into Prudhoe. These riders told me that the road near Prudhoe was a nightmare with knee deep gravel/rocks in some places about 50 miles worth...
This is where my decision to keep my knobbies as spares could pay off in case of a tire failure. It turned out I was not the only guy with spares.
Never thought to take their photo and neither did they, as this seemed out of place for some weird reason. Can't put a finger on this, it just happened this way.

To be continued.....
 
Key Largo, Prudhoe Bay and Westfest

July 9th

Got up a 6 AM and hit the Haul road some more at 6:15. By this time I was a master of speed packing up camp. Frankly I hadn't unpacked much..
Today's program was Prudhoe and the first part was a great ride. The road is sometimes paved with what I call 'teaser' pieces. 2 or 3 miles of smooth pavement to lull you into thinking it's gonna be this way for a while.....yeah right.
They are welcome but the climate and geology is such that paving the entire road is next to impossible and would result in no more adventure riding there.
Photos don't do the road any justice. Most of us who ride the rougher stuff know this, as you really have to be there to appreciate how nasty roads can be. And no I didn't take piccies of the paved stuff. The ride into Prudhoe was easier than I thought as the weather was fantastic. I had heard Atigun Pass can be a nightmare when the weather is bad. How prophetic that was to be....

Camp photo from inside the tent. 3 mosquito's make a bug burger and I intended
not to get drained by them....

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Toward Atigun Pass

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Private room :heart

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Another 'exploded' room...:D

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The Prudhoe Bay hotel caters to the oilfield workers and for $125,= I got a private room with my own shower and TV. The best part was that I could do laundry and eat all I wanted in between the included meals. This IS the place to stay and reservations are recommended. I got lucky as I hadn't made a reservation...
The Caribou Inn is very $$$ and food and laundry are extra....

The rough road pics will come up a little later, stay tuned...:wave
 
Key Largo, Prudhoe Bay and Westfest

July 10th

A 510 mile tale of bugs and rain to Fairbanks.

I left at 7 AM in 34 F weather and fog which resulted in running almost over Caribou who dared to show up now that the 'skeeters' were temporarily gone..
I'll start with the photo's of the last, or first, 50 miles outside Prudhoe.
The gravel is knee deep in places. As stated before, photos just don't show it well.

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At this point, I am still on my street tires and they, IMHO, were better than TKC's at this point. I had been practicing in the Everglades, as we have similar roads here (hard-pack gravel with washboard and ruts) and found that street tires were more surefooted than knobs. I may be off here, but I was not climbing any single track, but riding semi-maintained 'road' . The sidewalls on street tires are tougher too and I had no rips...

More on the tire saga. As I pulled into the hotel the previous day, I was met by some oilfield workers who actually praised me for bringing spares. The week before two riders had ripped a TKC rear and had to spend 2 nights @ $ 200,= each night in the Caribou hotel while waiting for a new tire. Add 2 nights, a tire and it came to $ 750,= for one TKC. Ouch!. :cry
Again, the Caribou hotel has NO laundry or food included in their pricing......
I ended up meeting those riders outside Anchorage later in the trip where I heard their whole story..

On the way back, I had to stop for construction and the mosquito's where so bad that I saw black clouds of them. Not even in the Everglades have I ever seen this!!
The road worker in the truck got out and she was wearing some deet stuff that kept them away. I however, was besieged and left the helmet visor shut.
She laughed and so did I at this ridiculous assault of these critters and she told me to ride on through without the pilot car :clap . She radioed the crew ahead and I passed without a hitch. Phew! No bloodletting!

As I got closer toward Atigun Pass, the prophecy of it being a nasty road to traverse in bad weather came true. I saw the black clouds hanging over the area. The weather hit me as I was climbing up the road. The rain was like we have with Tropical storms with nasty 40-45 MPH cross winds.
Now I ride in the Keys in some nasty stuff albeit short lived, but this was quite an experience I just as soon not repeat. A pucker factor of 6.5 in my book. (pucker factor 10 made me quit my career as an oilfield diver)

At the moment that you go through something like this, you question your sanity and ask yourself why you're even here. Afterward it is great to look back and savor the memory.

Weather closing in on Atigun Pass.

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After this little excursion :brow I saw this moose feeding in a lake and saw my intrepid bicycle friends still peddling northward.
Moose are huge! I think more in the elephant range than horse size. Cool to see this one going about her business.

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At the end of the day I checked into the same motel as before as I was very tired from keeping the bike in the upward position. I did succeed not to dump the bike.
I also rinsed off the muck from the bike. I had sprayed the bike with silicone spray prior to the trip and it aided greatly in muck removal. This I will do from now on in as it helped a lot.

More to come..............maybe..:wave
 
Key Largo, Prudhoe Bay and Westfest

July 11th (My Birthday too...):lol

With the bike somewhat cleaned up, I knew that I had pushed the tires a lot with all the rough stuff. At 11 AM I took off to Anchorage and Alaska Leather where I knew a tire change was possible. I also wanted to see a little of Denali and Anchorage. Well Denali was socked in with rain and the tour buses and the whole area around the park entrance made me gag.

I live in a tourist area and don't need more of the artificially applied make-it-look-authentic cr^p I see everywhere.
Also doing a 'tour' in a bus with 50 blue hairs wasn't in the cards either, as I have done those trips in the keys as a tour guide myself.
" On the left, ladies and gentlemen WE can see.....blah blah, and on the right a moose taking a huge dump........Ooops" :rofl
Nah, not for me as I enjoyed the ride too much to even stop for photo's and as it was pouring most of the day my camera stayed safely tucked away...

To make a long story short I ended up in Anchorage at www.Alaskaleather.com before closing time, where Barbara :heart not only changed the tires, but exchanged the knobs for new Tourances, since I had done the whole ride on streets anyway. She told me I was weird for doing it "the other way around" on streets vs knobs. She also told me it was smart to bring spares.
I told her I was weird but not dangerous and we had a good chuckle :rofl The tire saga ran like a red line through this trip although it ended here for me.

Barbara runs a great shop and knows about good customer service. I was out the door for a little over $ 100,= all told. I got 11K miles out of the Battlewings and will buy them again. Barbara directed me to the Harley Davidson dealer in town, who offer free camping for motorcyclists. There is a shower and head as well. :clap :clap
This is something more dealers should offer where possible. Ultimate customer service.

On that note; everywhere I have been on this trip, whether in Canada or the USA, people have been very helpful and nice. Not once did I experience any negativity because of my mode of transportation. I personally think that traveling solo has a lot to do on how people approach you. The group thing brings with it a bit of a 'bad' biker image. Not always true but non riders perceive motorcyclists differently anyway.
A big smile when you pull you helmet of, or flip it open helps a lot too.

More to come.........:wave
 
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